Total pages in book: 217
Estimated words: 207224 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1036(@200wpm)___ 829(@250wpm)___ 691(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 207224 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1036(@200wpm)___ 829(@250wpm)___ 691(@300wpm)
“I know,” he says quietly. “I’m trying to fix that.”
“How?”
“School. We’re looking at one next week. Popular with security-conscious parents, if you know what I mean.”
“Criminals?”
“Celebrities.”
I laugh under my breath and look at the door, smoking my way through my cigarette. Is she out on the water now? Does she know what she’s doing? Where to head? The signals? “Ringo’s out there, right?”
“Shark fishing.”
“And Goldie?”
“Paddleboarding.”
“I didn’t know she could paddleboard.”
“She can’t,” Danny says over a laugh, but I don’t join him, too stressed. Worried. I knew this wasn’t going to be an easy wait, but the fact we’re not on talking terms is making it worse. “Hey.” Danny nudges my knee with his, knocking my attention away from the door. “The challenges we’re facing now won’t be around forever.” Something tells me he’s not just talking about business. “Work, family, wives, kids.” Danny pulls on his cigarette and pouts, looking up at the ceiling and exhaling. “This is the rising, mate.” He blows smoke up into the air, and it rolls and swirls above us. “There’s only one thing that will stop us from staying on top once we’ve killed all the fuckers in our way.” He drops his eyes but not his head. “Hell hath no fury like my wife.” He smiles, and it’s sick. “She terrifies me more than anyone. Including you and Beau.”
“Beau terrifies you?” I ask over a laugh. I get it. She petrifies me. My laughter fades off, and Danny nods.
“If we didn’t have them, we wouldn’t need to be doing this. But we can’t play dead. And we can’t live a normal life.”
“And we can’t be without them,” I finish.
“Precisely.” He stands, pointing at me with his cigarette. “So let’s get the fuck on with rising and make sure we never fall, because that, my friend, is the closest we’re ever getting to normal.”
I get up and head to the door.
“She’ll be fine, James.”
“I know,” I say to myself. We both know Beau’s trained and capable in keeping her cool in the face of danger. We both also know she’s incapable of keeping emotion out of it since her mother died. She’s pissed off with me. She may not be showing it, but she’s hating on me—for constantly treating her like she’s glass. It’s in my nature where she’s concerned, and I can’t promise I will ever change, so we need to compromise. She’s more delicate than she allows the world to see, but I know her now. To her core, I know her.
She needs me.
And I sure as shit need her.
If not for each other, why the fuck are we going through this hell?
30
BEAU
I’m pretty sure Leon is stoned, because he won’t shut the hell up, rabbiting on at a guy who’s dressed in traditional tribal garb, popping question after question—where’s he from, does he like Caribbean food, has he been to Zambia, Congo, the Sahara?
Eventually, he lifts his shades, revealing eyes as black as his skin, and Leon pipes down. “Friendly,” he mutters as the guns are transferred from the boat to the empty skis.
“They’re not here to be friendly.” I wade toward the first ski, pull down the handlebars and press into the padded seat, putting my weight behind it until I hear the catch click into place. I take the rope that connects the first dummy jet ski to James’s jet ski and feel my way to the next. “A bit of help?”
Leon flashes the friendly black guy a smile and comes over to assist helping me to get all the skis closed again. The water is busy, boats crisscrossing constantly, but Chaka’s catamaran is concealing us from the open water while we move the goods. I can’t lie, my heart is going crazy in my chest, my eyes constantly scanning the space, both water and land.
“Are we done?” Leon asks as the final catch on the final ski at the end of the rope attached to his clicks into place.
“Done.” I face the five guys on the small speed boat. “Thanks.” I inwardly frown, wondering how I went from upcoming FBI agent to gun smuggler. The Enigma. That’s how. Him and a whole heap of corruption.
Mr. Friendly moves his shades back over his eyes. “Tell Black the next shipment will be ready next week.”
Great. We don’t have enough guns? “Aye, aye, captain,” I say quietly, retying my hair as I head back to my jet ski and Leon gets on his.
“Take it easy, okay?” he says, squeezing the throttle in demonstration. “Don’t jerk. We have a bit more weight going back.”
I nod and follow his instructions, my heartbeats starting to gain momentum as we chug farther out onto the water. “Have you had a joint today?” I ask.
“Yes, I’ve had a fucking joint today.” He reaches for his bandana and pushes it back into his wild hair. “Not just because I’m nervous as fucking shit, man.”